Great Schism: Difference between revisions

The '''Great Schism''',<ref name="GoO">'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''', ''page 240''</ref> also known as the '''Covenant Schism''',<ref name="GoO245">'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 245''</ref> or the '''Great Betrayal''' among the [[Sangheili]],<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions''', ''The Return'', ''page 247''</ref> was a major civil conflict between the forces loyal to the [[Covenant]] against the Sangheili and their followers, which split apart on [[2552#November|November 3, 2552]]. During the Schism, three major factions fought for victory: the Sangheili [[Fleet of Retribution]] allied with the [[UNSC]]; the remnants of the Covenant led by the [[San'Shyuum]] and the [[Jiralhanae]]; and the [[Flood]], which took over the Covenant holy city of ''[[High Charity]]'' in an effort to assimilate the other warring factions. The Schism marked both the end of the Covenant and the partition of its client species for a thousand years.<ref name="GoO245"/> For UNSC, it is also serves as a major turning point that leads to the [[Battle of Installation 00|end of the war]] after their [[Fall of Reach|disastrous defeat on Reach]].

For centuries over the course of the [[history of the Covenant]], certain [[Sangheili]] eventually came close to discovering the truth about the [[Forerunner]]s, which would falsify the [[Covenant religion]].<ref>[[Halo 2: Anniversary]] - [[Terminal/Halo_2:_Anniversary|Terminal 11]] -  "In some cases, that influence was already being used to question the decisions of your Hierarchs. In fact, that very questioning often gave rise to the charges of heresy that so neatly removed the challenger from the Hierarchs' concern."</ref> This was made even more apparent when [[Sesa 'Refumee's heretic faction]] spread information about the Great Journey being false.<ref>[[Halo 2]] - [[The Arbiter]] - "Our Prophets are false! Open your eyes, my brothers! They would use the faith of our forefathers to bring ruin to us all! The Great Journey is a-"</ref> Intending to prevent the Covenant from falling apart, the [[Prophet of Truth|High Prophet of Truth]] made plans to eject the Sangheili species from the hegemony, viewing them as untrustworthy and doubting their reliability and loyalty. Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee's faliure to prevent John-117 from [[Battle of Installation 04|destroying Installation 04]], considered as the sacred rings by the Covenant itself, further perpetuated distrust toward the Sangheili. Truth would eventually replace the Sangheili with the [[Jiralhanae]], as he saw the latter as more willing and unquestioning pawns. He had appointed [[Tartarus]], a loyal Jiralhanae, to the position of [[Chieftain of the Jiralhanae]] who would help him execute his plan. Feeding off the rivalry between the Sangheili and Jiralhanae, Truth knew that Tartarus and the Jiralhanae would be more than happy to replace the Sangheili as the Covenant's military leaders. Truth kept these schemes strictly to himself and waited until the time was right to implement them. After Truth learned the location of the [[Earth|human homeworld]], he secretly amassed [[Truth's fleet|a fleet]] of over five hundred warships, commanded entirely by Jiralhanae, at the command-and-control station ''[[Unyielding Hierophant]]''.<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 297''</ref> In [[2552#September|September of 2552]], this station and the fleet [[Operation: FIRST STRIKE|were destroyed]] by a group of [[SPARTAN-II program|SPARTAN-IIs]] who learned of its purpose shortly before the invasion could commence.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 407''</ref> This put a temporary halt to Truth's plans.<ref name="oct20">'''[[Halo Waypoint]]''', ''"Ten Twenty" history article''</ref>

On October 20, the [[Prophet of Regret|High Prophet of Regret]] made a move Truth did not expect: having discovered a significant [[Forerunner]] [[Portal at Voi|artifact]] on Earth on his own, but unaware of the fact it was humanity's homeworld, he took [[Fleet of Sacred Consecration|a fleet]] of fifteen ships to Earth.<ref name="oct20"/> Immediately after Truth learned of this, he sent the remnants of the fleet he had amassed to Earth; he gave his Jiralhanae troops orders to forcibly overtake the Sangheili in command of the remaining forces on and above Earth. When Regret retreated from Earth, his Sangheili-led ships in orbit continued to engage the [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]], but now without a leader. Only moments after, the Jiralhanae forces within the fleet and on the ground killed any remaining Sangheili,<ref name="odst">'''[[Halo 3: ODST]]''', campaign level ''[[Coastal Highway]]''</ref> as Truth had ordered. They continued to hold [[New Mombasa]] until the reinforcements sent by Truth arrived. As ''[[High Charity]]'' and the rest of the [[Covenant fleet]] were now on their way to the newly discovered [[Halo Array|Halo]] [[Installation 05]], Truth's scheme remained secret from the rest of the Covenant. Regret, who would arrive at Delta Halo weeks before ''High Charity'' and the rest of the Covenant, would serve yet another purpose for Truth: the final stage in Truth's plan.<ref name="oct20"/> With the arrival of the {{UNSCShip|In Amber Clad}} commanded by Commander [[Miranda Keyes]] on [[Installation 05]], the UNSC decided to [[Battle of Installation 05|assassinate the Prophet of Regret]] after they got the intel they needed. John-117 executes this task, and kills Regret.